Ubisoft bemoans lack of Xbox 720 or PS4 this year

Yves Guillemot, CEO of Ubisoft, says his and rival software publishers have been "penalised by the lack" of a PS4 or Xbox 720, even though the Nintendo Wii U was officially launched at E3 in June.

Speaking to games development site Gamasutra, Guillemot said that while Ubisoft was doing well enough this year, it could be doing better. And it's Microsoft and Sony's fault. "What we missed was a new console every five years," he said.

"We have been penalised by the lack of new consoles on the market. I understand the manufacturers don't want them too often because it's expensive, but it's important for the entire industry to have new consoles because it helps creativity."

One of the problems, he said, was that it is tricky to launch new IPs (intellectual properties) and franchises at the end of an equipment cycle. That's why many of the biggest titles this year will be sequels to existing hits, such as Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 from Activision and Assassin's Creed III from Ubisoft itself.

"It's a lot less risky for us to create new IPs and new products when we're in the beginning of a new generation," he explained.

"Our customers are very open to new things. Our customers are reopening their minds - and they are really going after what's best.

"At the end of a console generation, they want new stuff, but they don't buy new stuff as much. They know their friends will play Call of Duty or Assassin's Creed so they go for that. So the end of a cycle is very difficult."

Of course, Ubisoft will be one of the first to publish games for the new Nintendo Wii U console, including one that it hopes to be the first in a long-running franchise, ZombiU. We suspect, however, that the company will be gearing up even more spectacular IPs for next year... Watch Dogs, anyone?

What do you think? Are we overdue for console refresh? Let us know in the comments below...

Our senior ed of news and features has been a tech and games journalist for more than 27 years, and has been with Pocket-lint for over five. Rik has edited a number of videogame magazines in the past, was deputy editor of Home Cinema Choice, and his TV career included stints as co-presenter of Channel 4's Gamesmaster and Sky One’s Games World.